Professorial Fellowship in Monetary and Financial Economics

In 1994 the Professorial Fellowship in Monetary Economics programme at
Victoria University of Wellington was set up as an initiative of the Reserve
Bank of New Zealand. In 2004, the focus of the programme was widened to include
financial stability issues, and the name of the programme was changed to the
Professorial Fellowship in Monetary and Financial Economics.

Current and future fellows

Partha Dasgupta is Frank Ramsey Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, and Professorial Research Fellow at the Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of Manchester. He taught at the London School of Economics during 1971-1984 and moved to the University of Cambridge in 1985 as Professor of Economics, where he served as Chairman of the Faculty of Economics in 1997-2001.

During 1989-92 he was also Professor of Economics, Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Program in Ethics in Society at Stanford University; and during 1991-97 he was Chairman of the (Scientific Advisory) Board of the Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics, Stockholm. Since 1999 he has been a Founder Member of the Management and Advisory Committee of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE), Kathmandu.

In 1996 he helped to establish the journal Environment and Development Economics, published by Cambridge University Press, whose purpose has been not only to publish original research at the interface of poverty and the environmental-resource base, but also to provide an opportunity to scholars in developing countries to publish their findings in an international journal.

Professor Dasgupta's research interests have covered welfare and development economics, the economics of technological change, population, environmental and resource economics, the theory of games, the economics of undernutrition, and the economics of social capital.

Past fellows – public lectures and research

Objectives

The objective of the programme is to enhance the development of monetary and
financial-system policy in New Zealand to the advantage of New Zealand's
long term welfare by furthering thinking and debate at the professional
economics level, and, in particular, by:

1) promoting wider discussion of, and constructive challenge to, the Reserve
Bank's thinking in the areas of monetary economics and financial-system
policy; and

2) encouraging debate among university academics and policy advisers in the
monetary and macroeconomic fields and in the financial stability field.

Funding and management

The programme is funded by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand through the
Victoria University Foundation, which manages the programme. The Management
Committee comprises representatives from the Reserve Bank, Victoria
University's School of Economics and Finance, and the Victoria University
Foundation, and independent members from the financial community.

Selection of Professorial Fellows

The fellowship position is staffed by specialists in monetary and financial
economics of high international repute selected according to:-

their ability to contribute best to the above objectives

the extent of international recognition of their contribution in the field
of monetary and/or financial economics, with a high weighting put on the
relevance of their contribution to the practice of policy.

their demonstrated ability to communicate orally and in writing such that
their contributions can readily be understood by those engaged in monetary and
financial-system policy and practice in New Zealand

the extent to which their area of expertise and interest adds to the pool of
knowledge in New Zealand

Duties of the Professorial Fellow

In general, the duties typically involve a mixture of:

original research of relevance to New Zealand

presentation of a public lecture

presentation of additional lectures and seminars to monetary policy and
financial stability specialists, within and outside academe, in order to
stimulate, educate and generally promote thinking on monetary policy and policy
and financial stability issues

advice on, or supervision of, research by university staff and graduate or
post-graduate students.

Some presentations take place at
universities other than Victoria.

Remuneration

Professorial fellows are remunerated at a rate that is competitive in the
market in which the fellow is normally employed. Travel and accommodation
expenses are provided for, together with auxiliary expenses.